Written by  Carolyn Pole.

Hello Everyone,

Well tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of my 15' + fall off the Red Sands Beach trail cliff, in Hana, Maui, Hawaii, onto  lava rock boulders.

What a year it's  been! Still very grateful to be alive. Settling in to my new normal physically. There is some permanent restricted movement and pain/swelling in my left little finger/hand and left ankle/foot. Fortunately, overall it is mild and tolerable. I've  adapted for the most part. I continue with professional physical therapy and on my own.

Yesterday, I saw a screenshot I had taken of a post from last year, written by the Father of the family that was on the trail right in front of me. (He called 911 for me.) He was asking the community for word on my condition, and stated I was lucky to be alive having landed head first after a more than 15 foot fall.

Fortunately, I was able to contact him and speak in detail with his wife about 10 days after my fall, reassuring them that I was healing well.

When I read his post again yesterday, I just started sobbing. It was so traumatic to land like that on my left side,   face first -BOOM- !!

I was so grateful and focused 100% on my healing before, that I've barely cried about it, maybe only 5x in the year: When a nurse did a really mean thing/ when I was told I had to get hand surgery/ when my hand ended up worse after surgery/  when my son Daniel left for the airport, after helping me get settled at home...and now.

This cry was short and from a deep place, with intensly stinging tears...not so much saddness, but more like my body wants me to know, "Hey, that was really rough on me!" .... And  mixed in still, is  huge gratitude & relief, for the good fortune of surviving relatively unscathed.  Seems like I'm strong enough now to process the deeper, embedded cellular trauma.

Seems that these deep  feelings from the event, and its aftermath, are easier to process now that I'm  "safe". 

I told myself, as the tears flowed, "Yeah, that was sad and really hard. You did so great and still are!" The self soothing and affirmation feels good...I mean someone has to do it! LOL!

I had Covid  in January 2022, most likely Omicron, and am 99% recovered now. Grateful to know many, at home, early treatment protocols that really helped me through it. (https://earlytreatmentinfo.com/ and https://covid19criticalcare.com/ ) 

Needing to rest and recover from Covid put a damper on my Jan 28 Birthday, though, so I am celebrating this weekend instead. Seeing a couple of friends in Orange County, getting a massage and then a fun outing,  on my own,  to California Adventure,  tomorrow.  (They have  a Lunar New Year Celebration. Year of the water Tiger! Happy NewYear!)

It will be nice to do something fun on the anniversary  of a day that wasn't  so good last year!

Well, thank you again for all your love and support in the last year.  Life really is a gift! Be well!